Do people on the ocean have flood insurance

[Deleted]

or hurricane insurance or is it kind of cost prohibitive like earthquake insurance?

[Deleted]

If you live in a flood plain and have a mortgage, I'm pretty sure the bank will require you to have insurance. My parents had flood insurance when we lived near a brook (because it was required).

[ssmjlm]

There are FEMA maps that require certain areas to have flood insurance. I know where I live, my lot is in the new flood areas (although we don't flood), but not our home, so we're not required to have the insurance. We got it just in case, but it's like $300/year, I can't imagine what the costs would be if it was mandated.

Also for hurricanes/tropical storms our homeowner's has a different deductible for any damage we claim.

[LoveTrains]

Sometimes wind driven water is covered in the hurricane part of the insurance. I am not sure, though. My condo is Mass is 0.5 miles from the ocean and two insurance companies required that I purchase flood insurance if they were to write the policy. I declined because its up a giant hill and its on the second story, so I found an insurance company that would write me a policy without the flood insurance. It would need to have like a 30 ft storm surge to hit my condo.

[ssmjlm]

Nov 1, 2012 14:01:55 GMT -5 @mavjen said:

Yes, we live in a flood zone and were required to get flood insurance by the bank. Our separate homeowner's policy has hurricane coverage with a 4% deductible which is the highest rate due to being located on the coastline.

4% is actually awesome down here. Ours is 5%, but there are some companies that go up to 15%.

[UnderProtest]

Yes, our vacation condo is on the coast in a low area. We have to have flood insurance and the mortgage company makes us prove every year that we have coverage.

[miss1180]

Yeah... I think in flood zones like that, it's required. My parents have a vacation house in the outer banks, NC which gets hit by at least one hurricane a year. They're required to have flood insurance on it.

[stingsharkruns]

I'm in a flood zone. I'm required to have flood insurance.

[stingsharkruns]

Nov 1, 2012 13:56:20 GMT -5 ssmjlm said:

There are FEMA maps that require certain areas to have flood insurance. I know where I live, my lot is in the new flood areas (although we don't flood), but not our home, so we're not required to have the insurance. We got it just in case, but it's like $300/year, I can't imagine what the costs would be if it was mandated.

Also for hurricanes/tropical storms our homeowner's has a different deductible for any damage we claim.

Mine is mandated and it's $350/yr ... but I don't live right on the water.

[Deleted]

Ok, my CW is an idiot then. Her family lives in NY or NJ, so she's the expert on all things east coast apparently and when someone asked if most people had flood insurance she said "no" and claimed since housing was so expensive there, insurance is too much to add to the monthly mortgage payment.

[chessie]

Depending on your zoning it will be required. We were just fair away enough not to need it by the river/dam. But we have it, its relatively cheap. There was a huge storm 3 years ago, and without it we would of had to pay for all the damage to the house from the flooding. Also covers any flooding, ie- from wash machine, dishwasher, well, hot water heater..So its completely worth it in my opinion.

[Deleted]

Nov 1, 2012 14:32:53 GMT -5 @fivedogs said:

Nov 1, 2012 14:17:35 GMT -5 flygirl said:

Ok, my CW is an idiot then. Her family lives in NY or NJ, so she's the expert on all things east coast apparently and when someone asked if most people had flood insurance she said "no" and claimed since housing was so expensive there, insurance is too much to add to the monthly mortgage payment.

There is a lot of flooding inland in NJ, so the damage is not confined to people on the ocean. Many of those people inland probably don't have flood insurance because they are not in an area that is considered a flood plain (which is just based on the probability of flooding). But weather patterns are changing and bringing bigger storms and more widespread floods.

I am not in a flood plain in my area, but I still purchase it because I'm near a large river which has flooded areas close to me several times. Frankly, I wish they would just include it in homeowners insurance policies if you're not in a flood plain since it wouldn't add that much to the cost. (and CW was talking about people right on the water so I'm assuming they would likely be in the flood plain and should have it)

[Deleted]

When you guys say you're required but aren't saying why -- are you required by law or by your mortgage lender?

[pamela]

Windstorm insurance is separate from flood insurance. It's required by mortgage lenders to protect their interest in your property until it's paid off. It also usually has a much higher deductible than your typical homeowners insurance (sometimes up to 5% of the home's value). It covers wind driven rain damage, but not rising water damage. You need flood insurance for that.

[LoveTrains]

Nov 1, 2012 14:50:44 GMT -5 v said:

When you guys say you're required but aren't saying why -- are you required by law or by your mortgage lender?

When I said that someone wanted me to have flood insurance, it was actually the insurance company writing the policy on my homeowner's insurance. They wouldn't write a policy for the homeowner's insurance unless I also bought flood insurance for the property.

Since flood insurance would be a complete waste of money, I found a different insurance company to write the policy for me.